Ramos visits Moslem region

Ramos visits Moslem region

COTABATO, Philippines (AFP): Philippine President Fidel Ramos
visited the troubled Moslem south yesterday to bolster confidence
among foreign aid donors that a year-old peace treaty with
separatist guerrillas is working.

The half-day visit, which ended without any reports of
guerrilla activity, included inspection tours of two heavily-
secured dam projects -- one backed by Japan in the town of
Carmen, and another in the town of Shariff Aguak.

The visit was made amid renewed tension with the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF), whose leadership opened peace
negotiations with Manila this year after a 19-year separatist
campaign.

"We would like to assure our foreign benefactors that the
peace process with the MILF is successful and that development is
continuing and that we will before long attain a condition of
enduring peace and sustainable development," he said in a news
conference here.